


illegal gender magic

by notquiteaghost



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Gen, Non-binary character, Stop Forcing The Gender Binary Onto Aliens 2k14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 11:09:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2346284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notquiteaghost/pseuds/notquiteaghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Hey, Strife?”</p><p>Strife looks up from the crafting table he’s working at. “Yes?”</p><p>“How come you never use pronouns? Like, gendered ones? To refer to people?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	illegal gender magic

**Author's Note:**

> this was going to have a serious title but then i decided fuck it. this is the title parv would want, lbr.
> 
> parv’s pronouns are ry/ryr/ryrself & are pronounced ‘ree’ & ‘reer’.
> 
> this is entirely a reaction to people writing strife as an alien without addressing the gender binary. i’m terrible & self-indulgent & i’m not sorry. also, credit to [donotchoosesidesyet](http://donotchoosesidesyet.tumblr.com) for the alien headcanons & for making me think long & hard about strife’s gender.
> 
> **obligatory rpf disclaimer: if your name is mentioned, this fic isn't for you in the slightest, close this tab thanks**
> 
> **warnings** : allusions to/mentions of past transphobia

Parv probably should have noticed it a lot sooner than ry actually did, but whatever, ry’s never claimed to be observant. Or, at least, if ry ever did, ry was probably lying.

But anyway, Parv finally notices when Ridge pops round, and the addition of another person throws one of Strife’s verbal tics into obviousness. Strife has a lot of verbal tics, and Parv doesn’t really pay particular attention to any of them, because that’s just part of how Strife is - Minecraftian isn’t his first language, his native tongue, and it shows. A lot. It's cute, mostly.

But this particular thing seems like less of a hangover from learning Minecraftian in a classroom first and colloquially second, and more deliberate. Purposeful.

It’s two days after Parv notices that there’s finally a quiet moment where ry can ask Strife about it.

“Hey, Strife?”

Strife looks up from the crafting table he’s working at. “Yes?”

“How come you never use pronouns? Like, gendered ones? To refer to people?”

A look flashes over Strife’s face, too fast for Parv to catch what it is. “I was wondering how long it would take you to notice.”

Parv scowls. “That’s not an answer, Will.”

“I don’t--” Strife puts down his tools and turns to face Parv properly, biting at his lip. He always does this when they’re having Serious Discussions - gives Parv his full, undivided attention. It’s a bit unnerving. “You know I’m not from here?”

“You and Xephos are galaxy-traversing aliens that glow in the dark, yeah, I know.”

“Well, where I’m from, we don’t exactly-- have gender. At all. So, we don’t have pronouns. And they, um.” Strife rubs a hand at his neck. “They confuse me.”

Parv barks out a surprised laugh. Whatever answer ry was expecting, it wasn’t that. 

Strife glares at ryr. “You humans get all defensive and angry about this stuff.” He (They?) says, cheeks flushing an amazing shade of green. Like emeralds. “I figured it would be easier if I just avoided them entirely. Eliminated the possibility for mistakes.”

Of course Strife did. That’s such a Strife-y thing to do.

“So, you’re not a guy?” Parv asks, hoping ry isn’t overstepping any boundaries or whatever. Strife gets weirdly sensitive about personal questions sometimes. There’s so much Parv doesn’t know about them (him?).

“I’m a Luminan.” Strife says, simply, before bitterly adding, “None of your words fit. And I never _needed_ any words that fit before I came to this strange and confusing planet.”

“Neutrois.” Parv offers. “Agender. Genderless. Gendervoid.”

Strife blinks at ry in surprise. Parv grins.

“I’m kind of a gender expert." Ry makes eerie gestures with ryr hands. "A practitioner of illegal gender magic.”

“Magic?” Strife frowns. “Wait, _illegal_?”

“Oh, don’t fret yourself. You shouldn’t worry so much, you’re going to stress yourself into an ulcer. ...If your species gets ulcers? But, anyway, it’s not actually illegal, just a bit taboo. Underground. Unconventional. Because, y'know, humans are annoyingly binary and oppressive.”

“I’ve noticed.” Strife says, dryly.

“Yeah, well. So, a while ago some people decided there’s only two genders, amongst some other shit that's not relevant right now. And they were completely wrong, obviously, there’s hundreds of genders because it’s this massive complicated chaotic spectrum, but. People don’t like to be told they’re wrong, y’know? They get all mean.”

Strife’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Have people been mean to you?”

“Woah, Strifey.” Parv says, raising ryr hands. “No need to go all attack mode, it’s fine, I’m used to it. I’m over it. Besides, anyone insults me now, I can just sacrifice them” Ry grins.

Strife rolls their (? His? Eir? Parv really needs to asks) eyes. “Are you…” Strife trails off, thinking. “Does it bother you? That I don’t use pronouns for you?”

“...Kinda?” Parv says. “I mean, it’d definitely bother me if you used ‘he’ - those are traditionally male and most people assume I’m male because of how I look, and that’s, like, invalidating my not-male-ness? Especially when people continue to do it after I correct them.”

“But you didn’t correct me.”

“No, because I literally only just noticed what you were doing. I would have noticed if you’d used ‘he’, I’m really hyper-aware of that, but, like. You didn’t?” Parv shrugs.

“I didn’t get them wrong.” Strife says, picking their words carefully, thoughtfully, and staring at Parv like ry's a puzzle they're close to solving. “But I didn’t get them right, either.”

“I’m not gonna make you use pronouns if you don’t want to!” Parv says, hastily. “That’s fine, that’s cool, you have a reason and stuff.”

“But you’d like it? If I did use pronouns - the right pronouns?”

Parv shifts from foot to foot. “Well, yeah.”

“What are they, then?”

“Um, ry/ryr/ryrself? Ry is a blood mage, Strife is ryr friend, that blood altar is ryr’s, ry is talking about ryrself? There’s, like, fancy words for them, possessive and demonstrative and all that, but I took Philosophy, not Linguistics.”

Strife nods. “Okay. I can do that.”

“Cool!” Parv says, grinning. “That's cool, really cool, you're really cool, Strifey. And, um, what about you? Like, how should I refer to you? Do you mind me using he and calling you a guy and stuff? I’ll stop if you do.”

“I--” Strife looks uncharacteristically unsure. “I don’t know? I don’t associate anything in particular with the way you refer to me, so it doesn’t seem wrong.”

Which, yeah. Fair enough.

But Parv meets Strife’s eyes, making ryrself look serious for a moment. “If I ever make you uncomfortable, you’ll tell me, right? You have to promise you’ll tell me, Strife. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Yes, of course, I’ll tell you.” Strife says, immediately.

“Great!” Parv says, bouncing on ryr heels. “Are we done with the serious talking now? Because, I was thinking we could go on an adventure.”

“ _I_ was thinking I could get to work on organising your sorting system.”

Parv shakes ryr head and repeats, “Adventure.”

“Parvis, your sorting system is a mess--”

“Adventure.”

“Parv--”

“ _Adventure_.”

Strife sighs. “Fine. We’ll go on an adventure.”

Parv grins, kisses Strife on the cheek, and dashes off to get ryr armour. Strife’s here, and he’s going to use the right pronouns, _and_ they’re going on an adventure. Today is a _great_ day.

**Author's Note:**

> i am [here](http://monsterau.tumblr.com) on tumblr.


End file.
